According to results of various epidemiological research, it has become evident that when blood total cholesterol is high, the expression ratio of the atherosclerosis and the ischemic heart disease becomes high. In the present age which is so-called as the food-saturated age, we are apt to fall into such a tendency that sufficient meals containing high protein, high fat, and a few dietary fibre are eaten without vigorous labor and exercise. This makes the mechanism for controlling cholesterol irregular, resulting in increase in the cholesteremia.
As food raw materials for decreasing cholesterol are known unsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oil (those of n-6), unsaturated fatty acids in fish oil (those of n-3, EPA and DHA), taurine contained in fishery products, and water-soluble dietary fibre such as pectin and the like. The main component of LG of the present invention is generally called as lignin, which is a phenolic substance of the polymer type scarcely soluble in water. It is common to pectin and alginic acid in that they are polymer compounds, however, they are highly hygroscopic to have viscosity after dissolving in water as compared with LG, so that it has been difficult to add in a large amount as a food raw material from a view of stability of food.
Namely, there have been such disadvantages that polymer compounds such as pectin and alginic acid are highly hygroscopic to have viscosity after dissolving in water, so that it is difficult to add in a large amount as a food raw material from a view of stability of food, and the natural product of taurine requires high cost, and the unsaturated fatty acids provide high calorie. Therefore, development has been waited for a material especially of the polymer type which does not damage the property of food and is capable of adding in a relatively large amount.
Brain blood vessel diseases, which have been the first in the ranking of death classified by the cause of death in Japan from 1951 to 1980, are in a decreasing tendency, however, accompanying with the change in eating habits, there have appeared increase in the arterial sclerosis and the hypertension as well as a tendency of becoming younger thereof, and the disease structure is also going to become near to the United States and European countries.
It is the hypertension that is listed as the first in the causing factor as a dangerous factor of brain blood vessel diseases and the ischemic heart disease, and for countermeasures therefor, there is considerable interest not only in Japan but also in the United States and European countries.
Blood pressure is said to be determined by a complex interaction between genetic factors and environmental factors. As the environmental factors are considered various factors such as life environment, cool atmosphere, smoking, nutrition and the like, and the most important is considered to be the excess intake of common salt. The intake amount of common salt is much in Japan, and a harmful influence of excess intake has been discussed, and in the necessary amount of nutrition for Japanese people established in 1979 is shown a suitable amount of common salt to be not more than 10 g per day, however, intake of 12 g or more or less is carried out as an average of whole country in the present circumstances.
From a view of removing intake common salt from a body by means of chemical absorption, such a trial has been already proposed that an artificial cation exchange resin such as an amberlite is medically utilized to use in medical treatments for hypertension, however, it has been difficult to give medication continuously. In addition, from another view than the removal of common salt by the chemical absorption, suppression of increase in blood pressure in a rat has been reported by using potassium alginate and calcium alginate which are one of the dietary fibre, however they cannot be used as a food raw material. Thus, development of a raw material which does not damage the property of food and can be added continuously has been waited.
Recently, calculuses generated in various organs have become problems. Among them, the gall bladder has the highest generation frequency. The gallstone is formed by deposition of bile components to be a calculus during excretion to the duodenum via the hepatobile duct, the cystic duct and the choledoch duct. At present, in the case of Japanese aged people, one person among 20 persons of male and one person among 10 persons of female have a gallstone. Before the Second World War, the pigment calculus occupied most parts, however, accompanying with the change of eating habits to be those in the United States and European countries, the pigment calculus has decreased, instead thereof, the cholesterol gallstone is in a tendency of rapid increase, which is considered to further increase in future.
As medical treatment methods for the gallstone, according to a rough classification, there are those of the internal medicine and the surgery. As those of the internal medicine are utilized a choleretic agent (a bile acid agent, a Curcuma agent, synthetic substances and the like), a bile excretion agent (calcium sulfate, an artificial culculus source salt) as a bile activating agent, and there are those in which as a gallstone-dissolving agent are used kenodeoxycholate and ursodeoxycholate, which are only an assistant medical treatment method at the present stage. And the medical treatment methods of the surgery also have problems in that there is possibility to cause combined diseases, and it is difficult to determin the timing for an operation and the like. According to the above, at present studies are carried out from both sides of the medical treatment and the prevention.
As preventing methods for the gallstone, taking the fact that the gallstone is formed on account of excess saturation of cholesterol into consideration, the excess saturation of cholesterol is avoided, that is the cholesterol level may be made not to increase. For this, the dietary cholesterol may be decreased, however, it is fairly difficult in the present differentiation in foods and the style of eating. Thus, it results in being preferable that a food component having a function for decreasing cholesterol may be utilized.